111 Facts About Nursultan Nazarbayev

Nursultan Nazarbayev held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council from 1991 to 2022.

Nursultan Nazarbayev played a key role in navigating Kazakhstan through the dissolution of the Soviet Union, leading to the country's independence in 1991.

In 1995, ruling by decree, Nursultan Nazarbayev extended his presidency through a referendum and adopted a new constitution that expanded his powers.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected in 1999, deemed eligible to run again in 2005 by a Supreme Court ruling, and benefited from a 2007 constitutional amendment solely exempting term limits for him, allowing re-elections in 2011 and 2015.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's policies focused on modernizing infrastructure, attracting foreign investment, and positioning Kazakhstan as an economic hub in Central Asia.

Nursultan Nazarbayev gained recognition for his efforts in nuclear disarmament, renouncing Kazakhstan's inherited nuclear arsenal, and closing the Semipalatinsk Test Site.

In March 2019, following a wave of protests and increasing discontent, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation, handing over power to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Nursultan Nazarbayev chaired the Security Council until his dismissal in 2022.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's power was diminished following the 2022 unrest, which led to a constitutional referendum that stripped him of many privileges and titles, including his membership in the Senate and the Constitutional Council.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, excluding chairmanship in the Security Council after the end of his presidency.

Nursultan Nazarbayev has often been referred to as a dictator due to his consolidation of power and autocratic rule.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's leadership was further characterized by a pervasive cult of personality, with his image and influence deeply entrenched in the nation's political and social landscape.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's father Abish was a poor labourer who worked for a wealthy local family until Soviet rule confiscated the family's farmland in the 1930s during Joseph Stalin's collectivization policy.

Nursultan Nazarbayev spent time training at a steel plant in Dniprodzerzhynsk, and therefore was away from Temirtau when riots broke out there over working conditions.

On 15 November 1962, Nursultan Nazarbayev joined the Communist Party, becoming a prominent member of the Young Communist League and full-time worker for the party, while attending the Karagandy Polytechnic Institute.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was appointed secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the Karaganda Metallurgical Kombinat in 1972, and four years later became Second Secretary of the Karaganda Regional Party Committee.

Nursultan Nazarbayev later wrote that "the central allocation of capital investment and the distribution of funds" meant that infrastructure was poor, workers were demoralised and overworked, and centrally set targets were unrealistic; he saw the steel plant's problems as a microcosm for the problems for the Soviet Union as a whole.

In 1984, at the age 43, Nursultan Nazarbayev became the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, the youngest-ever officeholder in the Soviet Union to serve the post, under Dinmukhamed Kunaev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was named party leader and the top position on 22 June 1989, only the second Kazakh to hold the post.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 22 February to 24 April 1990.

On 24 April 1990, Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected as the first President of Kazakhstan by the Supreme Soviet.

Nursultan Nazarbayev supported Russian President Boris Yeltsin against the attempted coup in August 1991 by Soviet hardliners.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was close enough to Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev for Gorbachev to consider him for the post of Vice President of the Soviet Union; however, Nursultan Nazarbayev turned the offer down.

The Soviet Union disintegrated following the failed coup, though Nursultan Nazarbayev was highly concerned with maintaining the close economic ties between Kazakhstan and Russia.

Nursultan Nazarbayev renamed the former State Defense Committees as the Ministry of Defense and appointed Sagadat Nurmagambetov as Defense Minister on 7 May 1992.

Nursultan Nazarbayev objected to the change, arguing that the Constitution gave the president the right to appoint the PM with already existing parliamentary confirmation regardless of the motion of confidence.

In 1994, Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested relocating the capital city from Almaty to Astana, and the official changeover of the capital happened on 10 December 1997.

In March 1995, the Constitutional Court ruled that 1994 legislative elections were held unconstitutionally and as a result, Nursultan Nazarbayev dissolved the Supreme Council.

In October 1997, Nursultan Nazarbayev dismissed Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin from his post, which according to political experts was seen as a "power grab".

At the Founding Congress of the party which was held on 1 March 1999, Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected as the chairman.

In July 1999, Nursultan Nazarbayev signed decree setting the date for the legislative elections.

Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Altynbek Sarsenbayev, who at the time served as the Minister of Culture, Information and Concord, the Secretary of the Security Council, replacing Marat Tazhin, on 4 May 2001.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was sworn in for another seven-year term on 11 January 2006.

Amidst the political shakeup, Nursultan Nazarbayev dismissed Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov in January 2007 and appointed Deputy PM Karim Massimov to the post.

Nursultan Nazarbayev has always emphasized the role of education in the nation's social development.

The book took a generally pro-Nursultan Nazarbayev stance, asserting in the introduction that he is mostly responsible for the success of modern Kazakhstan.

Nursultan Nazarbayev has demonstrated that he values his US and Western alliances and is committed to achieving democratic governance.

In December 2011, opponents of Nursultan Nazarbayev rioted in Mangystau, described by the BBC as the biggest opposition movement of his time in power.

On 24 September 2012, Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Serik Akhmetov as the PM, a close-ally of Nursultan Nazarbayev who served as First Deputy PM under Massimov's cabinet and the Akim of Karaganda Region.

In December 2012, Nursultan Nazarbayev outlined a forward-looking national strategy called the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy.

Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested Mongolia receives more investment than Kazakhstan because it is not a "-stan" country, even though it is in the same neighborhood, and not as stable as Kazakhstan.

On 1 May 2016, at the Kazakhstan People's Unity Day, Nursultan Nazarbayev warned that without unity and stability, a crisis similarly in Ukraine would happen.

Nursultan Nazarbayev called the incident as terrorist attacks which were orchestrated from abroad to destabilize the country similarly in a colour revolution to which he accused of being infiltrated by the ISIS militants.

On 8 September 2016, Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Karim Massimov as the National Security Committee Chairman and Bakhytzhan Sagintayev to the post of the PM.

In January 2017, Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed constitutional reforms, which would allow for the Parliament to have greater role in decision making, calling it "a consistent and logical step in the development of the state".

The move was seen as way by Nursultan Nazarbayev to ensure the potential of a peaceful transfer of power.

Minister of Information and Communications Dauren Abaev responded to Tokayev's statements claiming that "there's still a lot of time" for Nursultan Nazarbayev to decide on whether to run for re-election pointing out that the decision will be primarily based on his.

Nursultan Nazarbayev added that the country would only benefit if Nazarbayev chooses to run for sixth term.

On 19 March 2019, following unusually persistent protests in cities across the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation as President of Kazakhstan, citing the need for "a new generation of leaders".

Various colleagues of Nursultan Nazarbayev reacted within hours of the announcement, with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev holding a telephone conversation with Nursultan Nazarbayev, calling him a "great politician".

Subsequently, Nursultan Nazarbayev successfully pushed for a parliamentary bill granting him legal immunity, as well as another designed to legalise money laundering, angering critics further.

In May 2007, the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved a constitutional amendment which would allow Nursultan Nazarbayev to seek re-election as many times as he wishes.

In May 2018, the Parliament of Kazakhstan passed a constitutional amendment allowing Nursultan Nazarbayev to serve as Chairman of the Security Council for life.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was viewed to have followed Russia's economic reforms starting with price liberalisations.

In June 1994, Nursultan Nazarbayev amended the Parliament's Economic Memorandum for the next three years, which has been defined as an economic strategy.

In March 1995, Nursultan Nazarbayev signed decree setting the National Bank as an independent entity that is accountable only for the head of state.

Since 2014, Nursultan Nazarbayev has set strategic priority in Kazakhstan for economic diversification which would maintain the country's stability by avoiding the effects from its oil export reliance that would affect the economy through its constant price downfalls.

In 1994, Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested the idea of creating a "Eurasian Union" during a speech at Moscow State University.

On 29 May 2014, alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the founding treaty of the Eurasian Union in Astana, paving the way for the transition from their current customs union to the full-fledged EEU on 1 January 2015.

Nursultan Nazarbayev named Honorary Chairman of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in May 2019.

Nursultan Nazarbayev unveiled in his 2012 State of the Nation the Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy, a long-term strategy to ensure future growth prospects of Kazakhstan, and position Kazakhstan as one of the top 30 most developed nations in the world.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev unveiled this technological modernization initiative to increase Kazakhstan's economic competitiveness through the digital ecosystem development.

In one of the new government's first major decisions, Nursultan Nazarbayev closed the Soviet nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk, where 456 nuclear tests had been conducted by the Soviet military.

Nursultan Nazarbayev later claimed that he had encouraged Olzhas Suleimenov's anti-nuclear movement in Kazakhstan, and was always fully committed to the group's goals.

Nursultan Nazarbayev put forward the initiative of holding a forum of world and traditional religions in Astana.

Nursultan Nazarbayev initially espoused anti-religious views during the Soviet era; he later made attempts to support Muslim heritage by performing the Hajj pilgrimage, and supporting mosque renovations.

Under the leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan enacted some degrees of multiculturalism in order to retain and attract talents from diverse ethnic groups among its citizenry, and even from nations that are developing ties of cooperation with the country, in order to coordinate human resources onto the state-guided path of global market economic participation.

However, in 2012, Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed reforms, which were later enacted by the parliament, imposing stringent restrictions on religious practices.

Kazakhstan's human rights situation under Nursultan Nazarbayev is uniformly described as poor by independent observers.

The National plan "100 concrete steps" introduced by President Nursultan Nazarbayev included measures to reform the court system of Kazakhstan, including the introduction of mandatory jury trials for certain categories of crimes and the creation of local police service.

Furthermore, Nursultan Nazarbayev abolished the local police service in 2018 following the public outrage over the murder of Denis Ten in downtown Almaty.

From 1990 to 1994, Nursultan Nazarbayev paid official visits to the United States, United Kingdom, China, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Japan and other nations.

The first major diplomatic initiatives by Nursultan Nazarbayev were dealing with strategic issues, such as obtaining international security guarantees in the aftermath of nuclear disarmament as a result of pressure from Western nations.

Nursultan Nazarbayev called on Russia, the United States, and China to conclude a non-aggression pact with Kazakhstan that would guarantee the country's sovereignty.

Kazakhstan under Nursultan Nazarbayev became co-founders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001.

In December 2002, during Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to China, an agreement "On good neighborliness, friendship and cooperation between China and Kazakhstan" and "On cooperation between the two countries to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism" were signed.

In one of his speeches however, Nursultan Nazarbayev criticised Iran as one of the countries that provides support for terrorism.

Notwithstanding Kazakhstan's membership in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, under Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan had good relations with Israel.

Diplomatic relations were established in 1992 and Nursultan Nazarbayev paid official visits to Israel in 1995 and 2000.

Nursultan Nazarbayev challenged for Bush and other world leaders to follow the country's suit and make their nations nuclear-free.

At the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit held in Seoul, Nursultan Nazarbayev met with President Barack Obama who remarked Kazakhstan as being "key leader" on the issues of nuclear material elimination and developing international fuel bank.

In September 2015, during the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, Nursultan Nazarbayev met with Obama in New York City where both leaders discussed the issues regarding the war in Donbas and the goals of finding peaceful solution based on the Minsk Protocol, as well as nuclear disarmament, fighting extremism, the situation in Afghanistan and combatting ISIS.

Nursultan Nazarbayev thanked the US for its assistance in accessing Kazakhstan into the World Trade Organization.

Nursultan Nazarbayev visited Washington, DC in January 2018 where he met Trump at the Oval Office.

Nursultan Nazarbayev paid his first official visit to Ankara in October 1992 to commensurate the opening of the Kazakh embassy in the capital.

Nursultan Nazarbayev's resignation is considered by The Moscow Times to be an attempt to turn him into a Lee Kuan Yew type of public figure.

Notably, their meetings with Nursultan Nazarbayev took place separately from their meetings with President Tokayev, who is the de jure head of state.

Nursultan Nazarbayev has embarked on two foreign visits since leaving office, to Beijing and Moscow.

Nursultan Nazarbayev met with Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal during his visit to Kazakhstan for a charity tennis match.

On 29 November 2019, Nursultan Nazarbayev was named the Honorary Chair of Central Asian Consultative Meeting.

At the 29th Session of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan held on 28 April 2021, Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his intention to step down as the QHA chairman and have President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to succeed his role, describing it as an emotional "serious step".

However from there, Tokayev suggested for Nursultan Nazarbayev to be named as an "Honorary Chairman" by the QHA to which his statements received applause.

Nursultan Nazarbayev accepted the offer, promising to continue to work with the Assembly.

In October 2021, during a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Nursultan Nazarbayev awarded Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan the Nuclear Weapon-Free World and Global Security award for ensuring peace, regional stability and sustainable economic development.

On 23 November 2021, at the Nur Otan political council meeting, it was revealed that Nursultan Nazarbayev would resign from the party's leadership and suggested President Tokayev to take over the position, stressing that the Nur Otan should be led by an incumbent president.

In June 2021, Nursultan Nazarbayev received a Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against the virus.

Nursultan Nazarbayev recovered from the virus on 3 July 2020, in time for the celebration of his 80th birthday which was held on 6 July and coincided with the Day of the Capital City.

Nursultan Nazarbayev received congratulations from leader such as the Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev and former Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

The primaries were held from 17 August to 3 October 2020 where Nursultan Nazarbayev himself voted online.

Questions regarding Nursultan Nazarbayev's whereabouts arose as he was viewed to be the main target in the unrest with anti-Nursultan Nazarbayev slogans being chanted throughout protests along with monuments and street names dedicated to him being vandalized and torn down.

Rumours about Nursultan Nazarbayev fleeing Kazakhstan was brought up by Echo of Moscow chief editor Alexei Venediktov, claiming that he was preparing to leave the country for unspecified treatment citing inner diplomatic circle.

The Kyrgyz media reported that a private jet belonging to Nursultan Nazarbayev's family had allegedly arrived in the capital of Bishkek from the United Arab Emirates without official confirmation.

Nursultan Nazarbayev remarked about his achievements as president in which his goal was to form "stability and tranquility for the country" by calling for everyone to protect these "enduring values" and for unity around the Tokayev by supporting his reform agenda.

Nursultan Nazarbayev has two brothers, Satybaldy and Bolat, as well as one sister named Anip.

Nursultan Nazarbayev accused his grandfather's associates of plotting and scheming.

Nursultan Nazarbayev was already a slave to this work and could not stop.

On 18 June 2020, it was reported that Nursultan Nazarbayev had tested positive for COVID-19; a spokesman stated that Nursultan Nazarbayev would go into isolation and work remotely.

On 3 July 2020, Nursultan Nazarbayev had recovered and was "back on his feet" three weeks after contracting the virus.

In January 2023, Nursultan Nazarbayev was hospitalized at the National Scientific Cardiac Surgery Center in Astana.

Nursultan Nazarbayev is portrayed by Romanian actor Dani Popescu in the 2020 satirical film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

In 2021, Nursultan Nazarbayev was interviewed by Oliver Stone in an eight-part hagiographic documentary titled Qazaq: History of the Golden Man.